2016 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett AP 13 Auction

The 2016 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett (Versteigerung) displays a pretty rich, intense, slightly minty bouquet with tropical fruit aromas. On the palate this is a highly complex and refreshingly mineral Kabinett from one of my favorite vineyards along the Mosel. The wine has remarkable finesse and elegance, and the finish is absolutely stimulating and piquant. This is an impressive Kabinett, one of the finest I have tasted from 2016. Tasted in March 2018 from AP 13 17.

What do you produce as an encore for such a gem of a Kabinett as Oliver Haag rendered in 2016 under the village designation “Brauneberger”? Here is something that has become a rarity in an age of global warming: a Kabinett exclusively from the Juffer-Sonnenuhr. Predictably, the fruit was picked near the beginning of harvest, in mid-October. “The acids were strong, the must weight was 89 Oechsle,” related Haag, “and I thought, ‘You know, this could make a really special Kabinett’.” (It was sold via the annual Trier auction.) Site-typical tropicality of mango and pink grapefruit vies with northerly but very ripe pear and white peach on a heady nose as well as on a silken, glossy, subtly buttery palate, where it is joined by a hint of almond paste. Is this too lush and ripely flavored for Kabinett? The long finish strikes me as answering that question in the negative (though 20 years ago I would probably have thought otherwise), evincing as it does a delightful sense of levity, lilt and juicy refreshment, as well as transparency to a bed of slate.